


So Friendships are Formed

by RadScavver



Series: The Cadriff Chronicles [2]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Backstory, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-12 20:48:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18454361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RadScavver/pseuds/RadScavver
Summary: Rads is just enjoying a beautiful afternoon when someone comes a-calling.





	So Friendships are Formed

“Lieutenant Cadriff.”

She snaps up at the modulated voice. There’s only one person in the ‘Wealth that sounds so comically strange and yet still so very intimidating. Turning on heel, she salutes the General.

“You know you’re really not a lower rank than me, yes?”

With a slash of a grin, she relaxes.

“General, what brings you out this way? You’re a bit far out for Minutemen business.”

The power armor is gorgeous in the watery sunlight, prismatic coating shimmering as her superior shrugs.

“I was looking for you.”

She’s dumbstruck. There’s a flutter just under her chin, pulse rabbiting in an anxious staccato.

“M-Me, General?”

So much for professional, not with her voice cracking like a damn fresh-faced kid.

“Yes, Cadriff, I-”

“Um, you can just call me Rads, General.” Oh god, why the hell is she interrupting THE General? “I-If you’d prefer…”

That alien visage tilts forward ever so slightly. Was that a nod?

“Rads, then. It’s come to my attention that you’ve a way with animals, and a good deal of endurance when it comes to radiation.”

She fights to keep from shuffling in place, eyes aching as she tries not to glance toward the ramshackle hut nearby. There’s no shift in the General’s posture, but she feels like they can see the small family of mirelurks nestled just out of view. She really hopes she isn’t sweating through her ratty shirt.

Her lips stings as crooked teeth clamp down too hard. Copper tickles her tongue. She hates the taste, so she decides to open her mouth. The words aren’t what she means to say.

“I was born in the Glowing Sea.”

The helmet rears.

“My mom was a Child of Atom. She wanted to...don’t know, prove herself or some crap like that? Ended up getting caught by raiders not a day’s walk outta the Sea. Folks said she was gone for ages; came back so round and sick they were surprised she could walk. Along came me and a couple others. They, uh, they didn’t make it for long.”

“How did you?”

It’s weird how that voice can sound so gentle. Crackly and lost occasionally as the speakers cut out, but they make her feel calm. She shrugs.

“Granny figured I was a goner, too. She put all of us in one of those waste pools out in the wilds. Said she wanted to ‘send our souls back to Atom,’ or some garbage. Apparently, they heard something that made them go back and investigate, and they found me wailing fit to scare a damn ghoul. They took me back to Granny; she said I was healthier looking than anyone she’d ever seen.”

“Amazing. It actually _improved_ your health?”

There’s a prickle of unease creeping up her back. Her skin feels tight, hair on her arms raising in warning. It’s not the first time someone’s taken interest in that odd tidbit. But...there’s something in her belly. It’s soft and loose and doesn’t lock up like it does whenever someone starts trying to pry. Something instinctive.

“I don’t really know. I’ve never really poked it none, but I don’t get sick from the storms and stuff. Don’t mean I like it none; there’s a reason I left the Sea.”

The General goes stiff. She’s worried, a cold ball in her throat, then there’s a sound. A hiss. It pierces the air and makes her eyes go wide. Not a minuteman alive outside the Core has ever seen their leader without the heavy suits. Yet, even so, she’s not really all that surprised to see the General is a woman.

And damn is that woman a looker. Curvier than the Nuka-girl on the posters, arms thin but carved powerful with muscle, and a face clean and pale as the moon. What Rads wouldn’t give to go a round or two with her. Hell, even a couple minutes would probably give her a new idea on heaven.

The General nods towards Rads’ shack, spurring her to bolt up dilapidated steps. It’s just as sad inside as out, with no full roof and two walls slapped together out of debris found near-by. Still, there’s a broken down couch that’s comfy enough, and she’s got a chem cooler filled with some food. Rads is quick to pull out a couple nuka colas for them before heading over to the small cooking station set up in the corner. She’s had iguana soup cooking for the past hour, so she serves it up in mix-matched chipped bowls. When she hands a bowl off, the General digs in like a starving dog. Rads frowns.

“So, how did you become so good with animals?” the General asks between spoonfuls of her meal. “Did that come from the radiation, too?”

Snorting, and nearly choking on a mouthful of cola, Rads coughs, “God no! Could you imagine? They’d have made me a Mother or...or a bride of Atom!”

The General arches a brow. Her slurping is oddly refined despite the dribble of broth on her chin. Rads shrugs and prods at her own food. A chunk of meat bobs within the greasy mixture; her spoon presses it down.

“It wasn’t a miracle. There’s not a lot to do in the ‘Wealth as a kid, even less in the Sea. And being a ‘marked of Atom’ to boot? I couldn’t do shit. So I was young and bored and dumber than a feral. What’s a kid gonna do except wander off and get in trouble?”

Eyes alight, the General hums, “Trouble does seem to find you, Rads.”

“The thing with the brahmin was all on Riverson!”

“And the yao guai?”

“I _did_ tell them not to mess with the radio.”

Laughter, deep and rusty and fully amused. An expression fond, sad. There’s an ache in Rads’ chest as she watches a pinnacle of leadership become a weary woman for just a moment.

“My husband used to be like you,” she sighs. “Always a step ahead and too smart to get caught in someone else’s mistakes.”

Rads huffs, plunking her half-empty bowl on the warped floorboards, “Some people are just dumb. It’s not my fault if they don’t listen to directions.”

“Now you sound like Hancock.”

Both women stop to guffaw, one mocking and the other delighted. Rads can’t help but be glad the General is just a normal person beneath all that metal.

“Okay, okay...so, tell me how it started for you?”

Rads wiggles in her seat, recalling her early attempts at befriending the various beasties around the wastelands. One in particular leaps to the front of her mind. Yanking her legs up, crossing them and leaning forward over them, she flashes the General a wicked grin.

“Alright, so there are these tunnels…”


End file.
